Molly loves her iPad – it’s a learning tool for our family. It’s fantastic for strengthening her hand/eye coordination and I love the apps that help strengthen her vocabulary too. And at times, she also uses it to watch her favorite movies too. With that said, I’m also very aware of the volume levels too. I’m constantly asking her to turn it down – she likes noise!

I was interested to recently learn that 75% of children, ages eight and under, have access to a smart mobile device at home. Many times, they are often used with ear buds and headphones at too high volumes.

The astonishing stat is that 96 percent of parents believe their child is either not at risk or only slightly at risk of developing hearing problems from excessive noise. As parents, we need to do better at educating our kids to practice safe listening.

Here are some things every parent should take into consideration when it comes to kids and technology –

Indicators of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss –

o A simple ‘Huh?’ Or ‘What?’

o An individual’s uncomfortable listening level might not change. Whereas their threshold for hearing or where they can just detect sounds may be elevated, they may still be very bothered by loud sounds, so be mindful that it really changes their range of hearing.

o Ringing in the ears often known as tinnitus

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association encourages parents to learn more as part of their new campaign, Listen to Your Buds.

Comments

Pam

Monday, 19 May, 2014 at 14:25

I am guilty of playing my music LOUD. When my daughter, Holly was younger she could not stand loud noises because she said it hurt her ears so I would turn it down. She still not a fan of loud noise. My grandson, Leland loves his music LOUD also. Holly is his mom so she is always asking him to turn it down.